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Saline groundwater (SGW) is the underground saline water obtained from basalt layer through which seawater has infiltrated. SGW contains more than 10,000 mg/L dissolved salt solid, the value of which is less than that of seawater. As part of its safety test, single and repeated oral dose toxicity tests were conducted with male and female ICR mice for 14 days. In single oral dose test with dosage of 10, 30, and 50 mL/kg, no gross changes in appearance or mortality were observed. In repeated oral dose test with dosage of 8, 14, and 20 mL/kg, no significant changes in mortality or weights of body and organ were observed. Additional analysis of serum biochemical parameter and histopathology also indicated no meaningful change during the tests. When taken all together, these results show that no toxicity of SGW could be found with single and repeated toxicity tests. However, for final conclusion of safety, further toxicity studies need to be performed with animal and human subjects.

Recently, the incidence of diabetes has increased steadily worldwide. Type 2 diabetes constitutes about 90% of all cases of diabetes, and it is associated with many complications. Currently, the drugs for therapy of type 2 diabetes are considerably limited owing to disadvantages such as side effects and high rate of secondary failure. To overcome these problems, it is necessary to develop effective therapeutic agents from safe natural products. Deep-sea water (DSW) is abundant in minerals such as potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg). Mg supplements are known for their usefulness in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. In this study, we examined the anti-diabetic effect of Mg salt extracts from DSW in a diabetic mouse model. We observed that the groups treated with Mg salt extract showed better response toward fasting blood glucose level and oral glucose tolerance test when compared to the positive control. Overall, the Mg salt extract improved the symptoms of impaired fasting glucose and glucose tolerance, suggesting that it can be used as an effective agent for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Allergies and indigestion problems have increased in our society with increasing wheat consumption. Among wheat proteins, omega-5 gliadins (ω5-gliadins) and high molecular weight (HMW)-glutenin are known to be some of the major factors responsible for an allergic response and indigestion. Certain low molecular weight (LMW)-glutenin subunits are also able to promote local inflammation, and share common epitopes with ω5-gliadins. It is known that different wheat cultivars have different combinations of HMW- and LMW-glutenins. We investigated the relationship between the composition of LMW-glutenins and the degree of allergic response or indigestion. The extent of allergic reaction and indigestion characteristics in response to six different wheat cultivars were compared. Patterns of the change of blood glucose level with time, which were employed to measure the indigestion, were quite different, depending on the type of wheat cultivars. The extent of allergic response, as measured with the histamine and IgE levels, was also quite different, depending on the type of wheat cultivars. In addition, the extents were not correlated with patterns of LMW-glutenin DNA and HMW/LMW glutenin protein of various wheat cultivars. The results from the present study suggest that some more other factors, together with factors studied above, need to be considered to better explain the physiological phenomena of variation in blood glucose level and allergic response.